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11.28.2011

Just a few days ago I saw an article about a woman who watched her dog be shot dead by police, after they responded to her home for a 911 hangup call. The woman didn't know who could have placed the call, but it was reported that it may have actually been one of rambunctious mutts. The article also makes sure to mention that the dog which was shot and killed was part pit-bull, in order to highlight the "danger" the officer was facing no doubt.

It seems rather routine that the police will shoot first and ask questions later, even when there is no immediate danger or when they themselves created the dangerous situation. They tend to do this when it comes to people too, so really I shouldn't be so surprised I suppose, that the double standard also applies when it comes to police dogs vs. your loyal household pooch. Their dogs can do no wrong, meanwhile if your dog barks they get shot dead in front of your family.

In this report, you can read about the police dog named "Storm" who's master let the dog off the leash while walking him. The dog then chased down and attacked an 8 year-old boy who was playing hide-and-seek with his cousin.

Now that incident certainly could have wound up worse than it did. The boy was not severely injured. But nonetheless, police defend the dog and his handler without question. If, let's say, the boy's parents shot and killed the K-9, would they have faced charges? Probably. In most states police dogs are considered to be a police officer, and it is a felony to kill or injure one. If they sick the dogs on you and you try to defend yourself, you're looking at serious prison time with the additional charges, even if your life was in danger.

As far as I'm concerned, that officer should be out of a job. At the very least, he should be stripped of his K-9 certification and Storm should be retired. The dog failed to follow commands, and the handler failed to control his dog. The incident should be treated as seriously as if the officer had an accidental misfire of a firearm that injured someone.

I am sick and tired of police getting away with hurting and killing innocents and not being held accountable.

This is video from a police car's dash-cam that shows Tennessee State Troopers shooting a North Carolina family's dog (around 3:03 in the video). It happened while the family was returning from their vacation in Nashville. Police say they stopped them because they "matched the description" in a robbery that had just occurred (they were actually incident). The officer who shot the dog (Eric Hall) hasn't been punished for the episode; he has only been reassigned to "administrative duties". The Tennessee Department of Safety issued an apology here: http://tennessee.gov/safety/newsreleases/2003/statement.html

Here is the account of what happened from the point-of-view of Eric Hall: "I yelled at the dog to 'get back' but it attempted to circle me to attack, so I felt that I had no other option but to protect myself."

Here is the account of what happened from the point-of-view of the family: "My dog then came out of the car and ran towards the officer with the shotgun and flashlight. We started yelling to please let us get him, don't shoot, he was only barking at the flashlight and jumping at the light. My son plays with him using a flashlight. This is when my dog was murdered."

This video shows a search warrant served by the Columbia Mo. police department. The cops bust in this guys house in the middle of the night and shoot his two dogs (one a pit bull that was caged in the kitchen and the other a Corgi) with children in the home. it turns out that rather than a big time drug dealer, this guy had a small pipe with some resin in it, a grinder, and what the cops here call "a small amount of marijuana" (meaning less than a few grams). We here in Comlumbia want everyone to know what kind of police department we have here, check out our "finest" in action.